Warm up

Research and practice has changed what we do to warm up our body before a tough session. Don’t overdo any stretching or release of muscles that will be needed to work hard during your session. Increasing a muscle’s range of motion can also reduce its power. In general, we want to gently release muscles that are tight so we can start the session with better posture and joint range of motion. For example, after sitting for a long period, our hip flexors can shorten. These need to be long to allow the hip to extend for a powerful stride. Follow this up with a dynamic and/orspecific warm up to fire up the muscles you need to use.

Recovery

After a hard session, we want to reduce the stiffness and muscle pain you feel days later. The quicker we can recover, the harder we can go next session (and the more we can enjoy it). This leads to greater improvements in your performance. Treat the muscles you have just worked to return them to their full range of motion. Ones to go for after cycling include quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves. If you’re training in endurance events, you may also need to treat those that have been held in the same position for a long time. These include hip flexors, chest, neck and upper traps, low and mid back.

Prehab

No one likes the thought of injury, lost training time, and the subsequent frustration and loss of performance. Pre-hab is now commonplace in the elite level of sports – make it part of your training too. If you want more incentive, research suggests that appropriate and targeted pre-hab exercises can also improve your performance. Preventing injury AND making you quicker – what are you waiting for? For cycling, extra attention should be paid to the muscles prone to niggles and injury. These include hip adductors, glute med, TFL, vastus lateralis, rec fem and iliopsoas.Strengthening the muscles in your feet, mid back and deep neck flexors are also recommended.

Common overuse conditions

Cyclists can be prone to the following conditions: low back pain, neck pain, iliotibial band (ITB) syndrome, hamstring strain and Achilles tendonitis. If you notice signs and symptoms associated with any of them, see your health professional for a complete assessment before things get worse.

Release and Mobilise

These are passive changes applied to your tissue. That is, you apply a force to relaxed tissue and the tissue changes on its own. That change may be in relation to the length of the muscle, such as treating trigger points (release) or the movement of the joint (mobilise).

Activate and Strengthen

These are active changes applied to your tissue. That is, the muscle we want to change does all the work. We sometimes need to use a small and subtle contraction to ‘wake up’ the neural pathway to that muscle (activate) before we can adequately add more power (strengthen).

This program is aimed to supplement the specific advice given to you by your experienced health professional. If you feel pain with any activity, stop and see your favourite professional!

Tools we love to improve your cycling

Doublar

A$56.00

The Doublar's versatility will work wonders on your spine, shoulders, buttocks, legs and chest.

Adjust the balls' positions to accurately pinpoint the tender spots in your muscles.

Use the cord to help you move easily over the balls as you release.

Place one or both balls between you and the wall or floor, and let gravity work its magic.